Lee Johnson says that the end of season upswing in Bristol City’s form was not linked with former coach John Pemberton leaving the club.

The Robins decided to revamp their coaching staff ahead of the club’s draw with Norwich towards the end of the season, but Johnson has played down the significance of the reshuffle.

Jamie McAllister was promoted ahead of that game in March and then helped the first team to escape relegation and surge up the table to a final position of 17in the Championship. And Johnson batted away any possible link between the better results and the switching of the staff behind the scenes.

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“No, I don’t think so. I think Jamie’s been great first and foremost. Jamie’s a very good coach in his own right. Obviously he’s young and he’s enthusiastic.

“We made the decision to replace John. It was nothing personal, it was just based on the long term abitions for the football club,” explained Johnson in an interview with BBC Radio Bristol on Monday evening.

“I was always very, very honest with John when I first came to the club and continued to be that right to the end and I think that was very important. John did a fantastic job for the club but the club felt it was the right time to change direction,” said Johnson.

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“It was almost like a bad sandwich – great at the start, very bad and didn’t go down well in the middle, and good at the end again.

“I always believed that we’d turn it around. I always believed in the players and the staff around me and believed in the club. It was always a risky tactic really with the route we’re going down – because every signing really was a potential risk except for Gaz O’Neil or Lee Tomlin,” explained the former Barnsley manager.